Sunday, December 18, 2011

We got on the Riverhouse and Dillon Falls section of the Deschutes this weekend. Andrew came prepared with his new rear mount for the Gopro which resulted in some cool shots.

We all did many laps on the 25' dam at the put in which is a total blast. This drop is really easy center right, but has a pulsing hydraulic on the left that is either a smooth ramp or sticky hole depending on the surge. There was an exciting moment when Nate got caught in this hydraulic, but a combo of composed surfing by him and Skip being on top of his game (especially for a non-boater) got Nate out of there safely without a swim.

Nate and my first run went as hoped.

Dualing Green Nomads

We did the rest of the run without scouting from shore (which would have been a pain with the thick brush and sharp rock) which upped the fun level fun. Every drop was boat scout-able except one which we ran blind. There were two others that wouldn't hurt to scout.

There was some good quality stuff in there. This would be a great backyard run.

We then headed up to Dillon Falls. Everybody was a bit cold, but Nate and I still decided to give it a go after various heating techniques were applied.

Nate had a sweet boof line down the left into the fold, and I did a delayed boof in the center.

Nate with a silky line.

We waited while Anna decided to join, she wanted to seal launch in below the falls and just run the gorge. There is a notoriously sticky hole just below the falls that she was funneled right into the center of. She was able to roll up once but after multiple ends pulled and swam to the right shore. Her boat pinned on the left in the gorge.

Last breath of air for awhile.

Nate lowered me in my boat to a point I could connect another rope to her boat. He pulled me back and we struggled getting the pinned boat to budge. We had a pin kit in the car, but the ground crew was unable to find it. With darkness closing in and no pin kit, we left the boat tied off to a boulder and headed downstream through the short remainder of the gorge. We changed and by the time we made the short drive to Bend it was dark.

Nate and Andrew cold, but happy with the day.

We spent 5 hours getting dinner then off to our final destinations for the evening.

Andrew made a quick video of the two bigger drops using his Gopro mount on the back, then the normal use of a Gopro, then a final one of it mounted on a boom. It turned out well I thought. Here it is.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

1. Remove all gear in the stern of youre boat and take off rear grab loop , nuts and bolt.

2. We went to a Ace hardweare and looked around in nuts and bolts for awile picking out the things to use for the mount. We had some scrap sheet metal laying around that we used to connect the nuts and washers. Also it was used for the base and top of the mount where the gopro sits and the mount rests a square peice of quater inch tubing was used to get the height for the mount.

3. Welding the peices together we did not use stainless steel so we painted everything after it was all said and done. The bracket that the mount connects to we spot welded.

4. Bothe of the pictures show front and back side of bracket we welded. We did this so the bolts do not have to be held on the inside when taking off the mount or putting it on the bolts will not spin on you.

5. We drilled the holes on the boat just alittle bigger so we didnt have to force the bolts in.

6. Measuring the hole distance for both the the mount and bracket.

7. The flat part of steel that base started out as for the mount we bent with a rubber mallet to form to the outside of the boat.

8. As one person drilled the holes on the mount the other took the back piller out, to put the bracket in.

9. Holes are drilled for the mount put it on and bolt it down. Make sure every thing is done and set with the brackt you may have to bend it up at an angle to get the piller to sit back in its spot.

10. Foam piller is back in make sure it is snug and in the right spot.

11. If you are to set your boat up in this way I would recomend making your bracket peice very strong. The way we set it up is we can innerchange both the mount and the grab loop in a few minutes so you do not have to paddle with the mount for the whole run. Also using a pool toy noodle as a soft out side and leash on the gopro and to help the mount float if it is to get nocked off on the water.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

I had a team video project for school and we decided to make a film about a fellow Earth Science student Patrick Stephenson, and the Black Rock mountain biking area that he rides and builds at. It was my first attempt at documentary style movie making instead of just eye candy (there is still some of that at the beginning and the end). There is one kayaking shot of Matt King, then Andrew Bradley running Spirit Falls. I know some of you are mountain bikers and have visited this place so you might appreciate it.

We will probably show it again during the academic showcase this Spring, so it should be a bit more clean cut by then.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

As is par for the course for me, I wasn't able to go to the film fest this year. I did spend an afternoon editing something for the blog, then figured what the hey, might as well enter it in the film fest. I had some issues with the school network so could not come back and take this any further than a rough draft, so please excuse the cheesy, choppy introduction.

If nothing else comes from this video, realize there is still good stuff out there to be explored. Don't be a part the 99% who have never run anything not in a guidebook ;)

Ok, two cheesy thoughts on one blog post is enough, here is the video!